In general, a fishing reel includes a power transmission mechanism for transmitting rotational drive force of a handle to a spool around which a fishing line is wound. Such a power transmission mechanism includes various gears. As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 10-150889 (the “'889 Publication”), the performance of a gear has recently been improved in accordance with the property required for a reel and the position where the gear is used.
The '889 Publication is directed to a weight reduced face gear unrotatably secured to a handle shaft so as to improve the casting performance of a spinning reel. The weight of the disclosed face gear may be reduced while retaining the strength and accuracy thereof. More specifically, the disclosed face gear is formed of a disk part and a tooth part made of different materials: the disk part is made of an aluminum alloy that permits weight reduction, and the tooth part is made of a zinc alloy or a high-strength synthetic resin that retains strength and accuracy.
In the '889 Publication, since the circumference of the gear (face gear) is formed by outsert molding a zinc alloy or a high-strength synthetic resin on the disk part serving as a substrate, the resulting gear has limited accuracy and is defective in strength and durability. The low strength requires a larger size of the entire gear and thus prevents downsizing and increases the weight. Additionally, a gear having a tooth part and a substrate made of different materials for weight reduction is defective in rotation feeling of the handle because the vibration and the rotation performance are largely affected by the combination of the materials.